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Equant Enables ERP for Bodycote

PARIS & ESCHBORN, Germany--Jan. 25, 2006--Equant has signed a new five-year deal to provide an IP VPN ...

on 2006-01-26 09:21:43

Heat Treating Company Signs with Equant for Customized IP VPN

PARIS & ESCHBORN, Germany--Jan. 25, 2006--Equant has signed a new five-year deal to provide an IP VPN solution for Bodycote, a leading service provider in the field of heat treatment, testing, hot isostatic pressing, and metallurgical coatings.

Bodycote operates in excess of 245 facilities in 21 countries around the globe. The company wanted to implement a centralized, Citrix-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution, called Navision, and needed a network capable of meeting certain requirements, including, for example, data traffic prioritization. The existing network infrastructure, which was based on frame relay and dedicated lines, did not satisfy the requirements of the planned ERP in terms of bandwidth, round-trip delays and other technical and commercial aspects. For this reason, Bodycote opted for Equant following an exhaustive comparison of various international telecommunications service providers.

Equant designed an MPLS-based IP VPN tailored specifically to the requirements of Bodycote. The network-backed Quality of Service allows Bodycote to distribute the Navision solution operated via Citrix while still using the existing application despite having bandwidth that is relatively small.

Other advantages enabling Equant to clinch the Bodycote deal included:

Considerable technical and economic flexibility.

An attractive pricing model.

Freely definable data traffic prioritization.

Stable and secure network to support company-critical ERP application.

"We took a close look at a number of providers, but Equant was able to offer us precisely what we needed," explained David Landless, chief financial officer at Bodycote. "Moreover, we were also impressed by the fact that Equant acted not only as a mere network provider, but also demonstrated its experience in the field of Citrix-based applications in association with NIC Systemhaus. The Equant Professional Service team and NIC Systemhaus gave us their advice and support from the outset. We are considering expanding the cooperation with the companies in the future."

While larger locations were connected with synchronous lines to Equant's MPLS-based network, Bodycote chose economical asynchronous ADSL-based connections for its smaller locations. Based on tests, NIC Systemhaus in Goppingen, the company selected by Bodycote to implement and host the Citrix Navision solution, calculated corresponding bandwidths for the data traffic arising in connection with the new application. Allowing for application requirements, NIC Systemhaus is improving the uniform network capacity utilization using compression and caching mechanisms. In association with Equant, this will lead to a stable cost structure while data communication demand continues to rise.

About Bodycote
Our customers have made the Bodycote Group the World leading supplier of specialist metallurgical services - a vital provider of heat treatments, hot isostatic pressing, metallurgical coatings and materials testing services to industry.

These services could previously have been provided by in-house facilities. Thanks to Bodycote's policy of investment in leading-edge technologies, organic growth and acquisitions, manufacturers are attracted to the cost and efficiency benefits accruing from the Group's extensive resources. Customers can then concentrate their resources into core activities, with confidence in their ability to continue to satisfy international market requirements. The world's most respected and innovative engineering companies are realizing the benefits of long term relationships with Bodycote - giving them access to the wealth of knowledge and expertise of the Group's interactive metallurgical services, spanning over 230 facilities in 22 countries.

About Equant
Equant is a recognized industry leader in global communications services for multinational businesses. Equant combines its network expertise with its expanded services capabilities to provide global, integrated and customized communication services to enable its customers' key business processes. Equant serves thousands of the world's top companies, with the industry's most extensive portfolio of communications services and network solutions, including the market-leading IP VPN used by more than 1,400 global businesses. Equant, a subsidiary of France Telecom, consistently leads industry surveys in corporate user satisfaction.

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